2021 Headliners

[Quark]

5 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

Unfortunately the bitter truth is that there are just far more male centric acts who rise up to headliner level, and there’s a reason that despite best intentions, both 2017 and ‘19 were all male headliners after having Adele up there for ‘16. It would be a shame to not have a female act there next year after Taylor being such a strong female booking, but they really can only book who’s available/willing and so I wouldn’t be angry or surprised if it is three male acts again. The rest of the undercard would no doubt show a strong female presence anyway much like 2020’s did.

But that said, here’s hoping Taylor is still on board or that Gaga has stepped in.

Agreed they can't book what's not there, but I guess I'd expect to see them taking more of a punt over time on acts that aren't yet in that bracket of headliner level and actively be part of getting them to that level, rather than being a festival that waits for them to be deemed at that level before putting them front and centre. Be interesting to see how the next few years pan out, as 2021 is definitely going to be harder to predict in terms of who's active and available.

[CaledonianGonzo]

While she can only book what's available, the gutsy choice is to take a punt on someone like Billie, Lizzo or Dua Lipa rather than root around in the bargain bin for Foals or Biffy Clyro.

[RarerThanDandyB]

3 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

While she can only book what's available, the gutsy choice is to take a punt on someone like Billie, Lizzo or Dua Lipa rather than root around in the bargain bin for Foals or Biffy Clyro.

Biffy and Foals deserve the shot and would smash it even if it is bargain bin.

[Quark]

[henry bear]

14 minutes ago, RarerThanDandyB said:

Biffy and Foals deserve the shot and would smash it even if it is bargain bin.

 

[Gnomicide]

[dentalplan]

2 hours ago, henry bear said:

 

Smashing Pumpkins should headline too

[dentalplan]

Say what you want about Biffy Clyro but they disproved the Dua headline gang's hypothesis about nobody buying gig tickets at the moment.

[Matt42]

Arctic Monkeys / Paul McCartney / Dua Lipa - would be a great trio. Three massive British artists.

Add Aerosmith and the standard Glastonbury mix of artists and there is something for everyone there. 

[Hugh Jass]

6 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Arctic Monkeys / Paul McCartney / Dua Lipa - would be a great trio. Three massive British artists.

Add Aerosmith and the standard Glastonbury mix of artists and there is something for everyone there. 

Alright Nigel.

[CaledonianGonzo]

24 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

Say what you want about Biffy Clyro but they disproved the Dua headline gang's hypothesis about nobody buying gig tickets at the moment.

Or that Biffy Clyro's fanbase lack judgement

[Matt42]

7 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Alright Nigel.

In a world where countries have travel bans and international artists may not be able to come here safely, I think booking three strong British artists is probably a smart move - nothing to do with nationalism funny enough.

May save the fest a bit of bob too

[Hugh Jass]

19 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

In a world where countries have travel bans and international artists may not be able to come here safely, I think booking three strong British artists is probably a smart move - nothing to do with nationalism funny enough.

May save the fest a bit of bob too

I know, I was only kidding.

The festival has been known when times have been tough to go with a safe option or two. Which is why I think Arctic Monkeys make sense - big name and the only real dissent will be from CalGon. 

[Gnomicide]

Heard a Dua Lipa song tonight. 

Shite.

But carry on.

[Matt42]

15 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Heard a Dua Lipa song tonight. 

Shite.

But carry on.

Ah that’s that then. She should pack up her career and head off. 

[Gnomicide]

2 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Ah that’s that then. She should pack up her career and head off. 

Oh no, she should carry on, I'm sure she's very popular. Having said that, do people seriously think she should headline?

I know I'm an old man shouting at a cloud but come on, there's nothing new, innovative, or vaguely exciting about what she does. I can see Billie or Lizzo stepping up but not yer Lipa.

[dentalplan]

10 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Oh no, she should carry on, I'm sure she's very popular. Having said that, do people seriously think she should headline?

I know I'm an old man shouting at a cloud but come on, there's nothing new, innovative, or vaguely exciting about what she does. I can see Billie or Lizzo stepping up but not yer Lipa.

why have you done this?

[Gnomicide]

Just now, dentalplan said:

why have you done this?

I was bored 

[Matt42]

7 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Oh no, she should carry on, I'm sure she's very popular. Having said that, do people seriously think she should headline?

I know I'm an old man shouting at a cloud but come on, there's nothing new, innovative, or vaguely exciting about what she does. I can see Billie or Lizzo stepping up but not yer Lipa.

Yeah. I’m not going to make the same arguments I’ve made before but she’s a gigantic deal right now. 2021 looks to be a year of weird circumstances and the pool of potential bookings may be very narrow.

It looks like Paul could be the only headliner rolling over. With AM being in the frame, that’s the safe touring band locked in. With two pretty strong bookings locked in they can probably afford to take a risk with the third.

They’ve got an artist who is on a clear trajectory (getting more and more popular) locked in. She’s already confirmed that she will be at the festival in some capacity.

When it’s not even clear if the festival will be going ahead, it’s probably a safe bet to lock in three safe headliner bookings.

[Homer]

4 hours ago, dentalplan said:

Smashing Pumpkins should headline too

 

[Gnomicide]

1 minute ago, Matt42 said:

Yeah. I’m not going to make the same arguments I’ve made before but she’s a gigantic deal right now. 2021 looks to be a year of weird circumstances and the pool of potential bookings may be very narrow.

It looks like Paul could be the only headliner rolling over. With AM being in the frame, that’s the safe touring band locked in. With two pretty strong bookings locked in they can probably afford to take a risk with the third.

They’ve got an artist who is on a clear trajectory (getting more and more popular) locked in. She’s already confirmed that she will be at the festival in some capacity.

When it’s not even clear if the festival will be going ahead, it’s probably a safe bet to lock in three safe headliner bookings.

Maybe so, but that 3rd headliner is not going to be Dua Lipa. She is nowhere near Glastonbury headliner level. Nowhere.

[Matt42]

4 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Maybe so, but that 3rd headliner is not going to be Dua Lipa. She is nowhere near Glastonbury headliner level. Nowhere.

I really don’t get how this assertion can be made though. I’d argue she’s way bigger than Mumford & Sons / Stormzy were at the time they were booked. 
 

It also concerns me that there is an expectation for 2021 to be a super strong year. We’ve already seen pretty strong evidence that not a lot of artists are touring or planning shows. I don’t know where they will pull a stronger lineup from if Gaga, Billie, Taylor, Kendrick, and other big hitters aren’t doing festivals.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Matt42

[WhoOdyssey]

Jamiroquai are appearing on Dua's new remix album, so Jay Kay can be the Chris Martin of 2021

[Gnomicide]

7 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

I really don’t get how this assertion can be made though. 

Glastonbury headliners tend to be household names. I'm far enough removed away from the zeitgeist to see the bigger picture of what the general public expects from a Glastonbury headliner and that isn't Dua Lipa. I had to explain who she was to my Mrs tonight. 

Look, we've all had a drink and I acknowledge I'm more than likely talking shite but there are countless acts more likely than her to be announced as headliner.

12 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

It also concerns me that there is an expectation for 2021 to be a super strong year. 

Is it though? Where is this coming from? I suppose from a high, unthinking level, people may think we are getting 2020 headliners plus those 'pencilled in' for 2021 but surely there's an understanding that the world is in turmoil and many acts will not be making plans to tour the globe.

[Matt42]

10 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Glastonbury headliners tend to be household names. I'm far enough removed away from the zeitgeist to see the bigger picture of what the general public expects from a Glastonbury headliner and that isn't Dua Lipa. I had to explain who she was to my Mrs tonight. 

Is it though? Where is this coming from? I suppose from a high, unthinking level, people may think we are getting 2020 headliners plus those 'pencilled in' for 2021 but surely there's an understanding that the world is in turmoil and many acts will not be making plans to tour the globe.

1. I guess we can agree to disagree but Dua Lipa is a household name. 
 

2. The fact that the Euro festivals are rolling over their lineups, or getting very predictable acts to fill the missing slots. There are very few big ticket artists announced so far that weren’t around in 2020.

Big tours aren’t getting booked. Stadium gigs for next year don’t seem to be a goer. There is very little confidence that anything is going ahead. The only gigs that have been announced so far are small ones.

Since most gigantic headliner sized bookings sort their tours far in advance. If it gets till March or early spring and we get the go ahead that gigs can happen, it may be too late to rope in any big acts that didn’t already have something pencilled in.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Matt42